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Blown 1999 EJ22 -> motor swap time

I am very familiar with EA engines, but I am completely new to EJ engines. My brother blew the EJ22 motor (rod knock because it ate 3 quarts of oil in 3k miles) in his 99 impreza outback automatic. I am having trouble sourcing a replacement EJ22 motor.

Which EJ engines will drop in with little to no modification required? Will any NA EJ22 or EJ25 drop in without modification or changing the ECU or wiring harnesses? What I have learned so far is that the difference between early years EJ22 and 97+ are that early models have HLA, are non-interference, and have dual port exhaust. 99+ have revised blocks and heads. Swapping y-pipes should not be a big deal, so will an early EJ22 swap in without changing anything else? Because my bro and I live in Cali, swapping in any engine older than the model year of the car may be a problem. I also heard that EJ25 may drop right in and work with the factory EJ22 ECU.

Somebody please break down which NA EJ motors will be the easiest to swap in and which modifcations will be required to do so.

2nd part of this question- Where should I look for a motor? I called Japanese Engine Importers and none so far can get me a 99 EJ22, but they are willing to sell me a rebuilt long block for $2k.

I don't need an exhaustive list of all engines that will drop in. Just give me the best options. Consider which EJ engines are easiest to get and at a decent price, which engines are most reliable (non-interference are preferred), and which will drop in the easiest. I also heard that some EJ25s have head gasket issues- I need to know which years engines to stay away from.

If its just knocking and didn't throw the rod and he likes the car I would buy a dealer shortblock for it. I can ship you one, or even build you one for a bit less money, if they are ridiculous in price there. Right around $1000 if I build you one probably between 12 and 1500 from Subaru.

Another option is to put an EJ25 shortblock in it with the old heads.

Since its an auto you can use a slightly older block too if you want. A 1997-2001 model would all bolt in fine.

99 is a phase-II engine and you cannot use any of the older engines without swapping the heads over from his existing engine (which are probably shot with scored cam journals). You can use (with little modification):

99 to 01 EJ222
99 EJ253/254
00 to 04 EJ251

You need to use his existing manifold and cam/crank sprockets. You may have to block the EGR port on the replacement engine.

There are no non-interference options after '96. ALL EJ25 flavors that will easily swap have head gasket problems - you should replace the HG's on any 99 to 04 EJ25 before installation as a precautionary rule.

I have been told that the only engines that will swap with this are the ones from a 99 only legacy, or 99 to 01 impreza, and that none of the ej25's will work with that car. If im wrong on that, please let me know.

i KNOW the intake manifolds will swap in between the 99 - 00 ej22 and the 00 ej25. (not true for earlier years ej22s.) so a phase 2 ej25, 00 - 01, with the 99 ej22 intake manifold should work.

the phase 2 ej25 02 - 03/4 should work, but you will need to swap in the je22 cam and crank sprockets.( you may need to do this with the 00 - 01 engines as well. i don't know.)

but since the intakes will swap and since the long blocks are pretty dumb, no smart sensors, you should be able to swap in an ej25 as long as you use the original intake and probably the cam and crank sprockets.

what GD said. those later EJ22's are just plain hard to find, their weren't many of those vehicles sold/made so the parts are hard to come by. the EJ25's are expensive because of the high number of headgasket and rod bearing issues. just a tough motor.

if you end up with another engine - let me know if you want to sell the heads off the blown one.

I have been told that the only engines that will swap with this are the ones from a 99 only legacy, or 99 to 01 impreza, and that none of the ej25's will work with that car. If im wrong on that, please let me know.

You're wrong.

There. I let you know.

Seriously? I posted in this thread already and noted exactly what will work. I do this 5 days a week....

the engines you were told about are the ones listed in the autoparts interchanges, like at a junk yard - so whoever told you that only knows how to read, that's it. they don't know Subaru's. listen to GD, myself, and others here - we've actually done this stuff many times.

www.car-parts.com for lots of available engines...as I said before the Phase II EJ22 you need is generally a much rarer engine than it's predecessors and the EJ25's are generally expensive and I'm timid to buy a cheap one due to some of the issues they have. a 1998 EJ22 is easy to replace cheaply, not so with the 99's.

i did the opposite, swapped out my 00 2.5 for a 00 2.2 and had to swap out the intake, left cam sprocket, crank sprocket, and front y-pipe. so for you to put a phase II 2.5 into the impreza it would be the same thing (using the above listed parts from your 2.2 on a 2.5). i had no problem finding the 2.2 thou. first yard i called had one. maybe i got lucky? either way my outback runs perfect now and was a simple straight forward swap. motor cost me 850 with 115k on it, and 50 for the y-pipe.